#academicfreedom — Public Fediverse posts

Inside the D.O.J.’s Investigation of Fauci and Other Virus Scientists

https://web.brid.gy/r/https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/05/health/fauci-morens-covid-prosecutions.html

Inside the D.O.J.’s Investigation of Fauci and Other Virus Scientists

https://web.brid.gy/r/https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/05/health/fauci-morens-covid-prosecutions.html

Inside the D.O.J.’s Investigation of Fauci and Other Virus Scientists

https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/05/health/fauci-morens-covid-prosecutions.html

Inside the D.O.J.’s Investigation of Fauci and Other Virus Scientists

https://web.brid.gy/r/https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/05/health/fauci-morens-covid-prosecutions.html

Inside the D.O.J.’s Investigation of Fauci and Other Virus Scientists

https://web.brid.gy/r/https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/05/health/fauci-morens-covid-prosecutions.html

The release didn’t name the schools, but a #US official … said they include #Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology [ #MIT ] & #JohnsHopkins University.

…Sarah Spreitzer, VP at the American Council on #Education, which represents #college & #university presidents, raised concerns that the announcement suggests, without any evidence, that the #schools are engaged in wrongdoing.

#Trump #law #education #AcademicFreedom #AcademicPartnerships #China

Philosophers Honored for Stance on Open Discourse

Clemson University philosophy faculty received the 'Courageous Colleague' award for defending free speech and open dialogue on campus.

#ClemsonUniversity, #FreeSpeech, #AcademicFreedom, #Philosophy, #CourageousColleague

https://newsletter.tf/clemson-philosophers-win-award-for-free-speech/

Clemson University's philosophy department has been honored with the 'Courageous Colleague' award, recognizing their strong stance on defending free speech principles.

#ClemsonUniversity, #FreeSpeech, #AcademicFreedom, #Philosophy, #CourageousColleague
https://newsletter.tf/clemson-philosophers-win-award-for-free-speech/

#Rutgers yanked alum Rami Elghandour’s engineering school graduation invite over pro-Palestine social posts he wasn’t even planning to mention in his speech. We’re watching a livestreamed genocide, and unis are worried about hurting the feelings of people backing it.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/may/06/rutgers-cancel-graduation-speech-pro-palestine-post

#FreeSpeech #AcademicFreedom #Palestine #gazagenocide

"Israeli universities are embedded in the Israeli state’s military-industrial complex and actively contribute to the occupation of Palestinian land and the apartheid and genocide of Palestinian life. German universities and academic institutions serve as strategic partners in the Israeli colonial apparatus."

The Academic Boycott Campaign Germany: https://theleftberlin.com/academic-boycott-campaign-germany/

#ABCDe #academicBoycott #culturalBoycott #israelBoycott #antiZionism #faculty #academia #academic #universities #higherEd #academicFreedom #university #academics #theocracy #JewishState #campus #campuses #Germany

A quotation from Henry Commager

We do not need to fear ideas, but the censorship of ideas. We do not need to fear criticism, but the silencing of criticism. We do not need to fear excitement or agitation in the academic community, but timidity and apathy. We do not need to fear resistance to political leaders, but unquestioning acquiescence in whatever policies those leaders adopt.

Henry Steele Commager (1902-1998) American historian, writer, activist
Essay (1965-12-18), “The Problem of Dissent,” Saturday Review

More about this quote: wist.info/commager-henry-steel…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #commager #henrycommager #acquiescence #agitation #apathy #censorship #criticism #dissent #intellectualfreedom #resistance #silencing #timidity #academicfreedom

Among other commitments it also requires #Northwestern to revoke the so-called #DeeringMeadow agreement, which it signed in April 2024 in exchange for pro-#Palestinian #protesters ending their tent encampment on campus.

During negotiations, interim #university president Henry Bienen said Northwestern refused to cede control over #hiring, #admissions, or its #curriculum. “I would not have signed this agreement without provisions ensuring that is the case,” he said.

#law #AcademicFreedom

Capitulation

#Northwestern to pay $75 million in deal with #Trump admin to restore #federal #funding

#NorthwesternUniversity has agreed to pay $75 million to the US government in a deal with the Trump admin to end a series of investigations & restore hundreds of millions of dollars in federal #research funding.

#extortion #law #FirstAmendment #AcademicFreedom #FreeSpeech #Palestinian #HumanRights #protests
https://apnews.com/article/trump-northwestern-agreement-antisemitism-d646516c3f800faa416228deab61532c

Capitulation

#Northwestern to pay $75 million in deal with #Trump admin to restore #federal #funding

#NorthwesternUniversity has agreed to pay $75 million to the US government in a deal with the Trump admin to end a series of investigations & restore hundreds of millions of dollars in federal #research funding.

#extortion #law #FirstAmendment #AcademicFreedom #FreeSpeech #Palestinian #HumanRights #protests
https://apnews.com/article/trump-northwestern-agreement-antisemitism-d646516c3f800faa416228deab61532c

The president of #NorthwesternUniversity, Michael H. Schill, announced Thursday that he would resign, after a difficult tenure that included attacks from #Republicans in #Congress & cuts by the #Trump admin that forced the #university to lay off hundreds.

#Northwestern became a target this year of Trump ofcls, who cut nearly $800 million of the university’s federal #research #funding, after months of intense scrutiny from Republicans.

#law #Constitution #AcademicFreedom #education #BrainDrain

#Texas just gutted #FreeSpeech on #college #campuses. Is your state next?

New laws in the Lone Star State will silence dissent and undermine #faculty authority.

By Laura Benitez and Jonathan Friedman
July 14, 2025

"As thousands of students return to college campuses this fall, they will find themselves stepping into an environment reshaped by political and ideological mandates. Across the country, state legislators have been racing to exert new influence over free expression in higher education. Now, Texas has surged to the forefront, closing its 2025 legislative session by passing two alarming laws that take effect Sept. 1.

"Signed by Gov. Greg Abbott (R) in June, the new laws amount to a stunningly aggressive legislative crackdown on campus protest (#SB2972) and academic shared governance (#SB37) at public colleges and universities. The laws will not just silence dissent and undermine faculty authority in Texas; they provide a blueprint for how to dismantle academic freedom and chill speech on campus state by state.

"Only a few years ago, conservative lawmakers railed against college 'free-speech zones,' arguing that liberal administrators were muzzling students on the rest of campus. In 2019, Texas legislators joined other states in taking action by declaring all outdoor spaces on public campuses open for protest and speech by students, employees and the general public.

"Now, some of the same legislators have done an about-face. The campus protest law actually directs public colleges and universities to implement a version of free-speech zones and adopt sweeping limitations on protests. #Encampments? Banned. #Megaphones or #speakers during 'class hours'? Forbidden — if anyone claims your 'expressive activity' is one that 'intimidates others' or 'interferes' with an employee’s duties. Even wearing a mask during a protest — something many do for safety — could land a student or employee a disciplinary hearing resulting in 'sanctions.' And any expressive activity between 10 p.m. and 8 a.m. is off-limits altogether."

Read more:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/07/14/texas-campus-free-speech/

Archived version:
https://archive.ph/2LuBD

#TexasProtestLaws #ProtestLaws #ProtestLawsTexas #Project2025 #AntiProtestLaws #Authoritarianism #SilencingFreeSpeech #Censorship #AcademicFreedom #AntiMaskLaws #Fascism #USPol #CivilLiberties #Texas

2 #professors from #Rutgers University in #NJ went out on a limb to write a “mutual defense compact” for #BigTen schools.

The professors—1 teaches chemistry in Camden, the other psychology in Newark—said they were frustrated by #Trump’s abrupt cuts to #research #funding & its efforts to dictate #policy on some campuses.

They were also troubled by the lack of a unified response by #university leaders.

#law #Constitution #FirstAmendment #AcademicFreedom #HigherEducation
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/30/nyregion/rutgers-mdc-big-10.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare&sgrp=p&pvid=538E3356-8E4C-43C0-A26D-93CCA3B0137D

When students are snatched off the street for political beliefs, that’s not immigration enforcement—it’s repression. These are test cases for authoritarian rule. Silence now is complicity later.

#WeWillNotBeRuled #AcademicFreedom #FreedomOfExpression #AbolishICE #ProtectDissent #ResistRepression #SolidarityNotSilence

EXCLUSIVE: Northwestern Suspends Journalism Professor Steven Thrasher After Gaza Solidarity Protest http://www.democracynow.org/2024/9/5/steven_thrasher #Gaza #RightToProtest #FreeSpeech #education #USColleges #USA #censorship #AcademicFreedom #NorthwesternUniversity

Too much is still on X re. #HigherEducation denouncing the #GazaGenocide and the assault on #AcademicFreedom relating to speaking up.

Where are the #MastodonAcademic voices?

#GlasgowUniversity VC has stood up
#UniversityGalway calls for a permanent #CeaseFire
#DavidMiller has won his landmark case

#UCU